Reid and Buaas Manhandle the 2011 US Open Rail Jam

I’ll start this off by stating that although the fact that the US Open has been held at Stratton since 1985 and some may think that a venue change should be in order in the near future, the rail jam setup at Stratton, built by the prestigious pushers of Snow Park Technologies, was one of the most incredible snow structures I have seen constructed in quite some time. It’s insane. “It’s actually quite less insane than it was planned to be,” states Liam Griffin, Global Events Director at Burton. Well, whatever Liam says, it was incredible, and a description is absolutely impossible. Check the photos for the full effect of how much time this beast must’ve been to build. I was stoked that the rail jam was back in the Open schedule, and even cloudy skies and spit-piss rain couldn’t take away the enormity of this course, and the riders anxiously awaited the kick-off.

Cam Pierce

The field was stacked with some of the world’s best jibbers and jumpers, and at quarter-past-seven, shit went down. 30 men and 15 women pointed it at, over, around and in-between the beast. Riders like Yale Cousino, Forest Bailey, Charles Reid, Spencer O’Brien, Jason Dubois, Luke Haddock, Kjersti Buass, Jack Kmitrani, Dylan Dragotta, Jamie Anderson, Ben Ross, Sam Hulbert, Brandon Reis, Sebastien Toutant and a handful of others sessioned the setup for 90 minutes and it was all-time. (Editors Note: Though I don’t think a “rail jam” should incorporate double corks).

Spencer O'Brien

In the end, there were three men and three women who walked away with the top spots. They are…